Friday, Sept. 10, 2004 | 5:15 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
September 11 - 12, 2004
Since 9/11 the Bush White House hasn't shied from preying on the fears of Americans, nor has it refrained from bullying administration critics, when it seeks political advantage on national security issues. Less than three months after the terrorist attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft questioned the patriotism of Americans who had voiced their concerns that Bush's anti-terrorism agenda could threaten civil liberties. "To those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve," Ashcroft said in testimony before Congress. We thought Ashcroft had set the gold standard for demagoguery, impugning the motives of millions of Americans -- liberal, moderate and conservative -- who had genuine reservations about Bush's antiterrorism polici es. But last week Vice President Dick Cheney definitely gave Ashcroft a run for his money.
Cheney, during a campaign visit to Iowa on Tuesday, claimed that there would be more terrorist attacks against the United States if Democrat John Kerry was elected president. After Cheney was roundly criticized for making such a wild accusation, he backpedaled, contending that he didn't actually mean that the United States would suffer from another attack if a Democrat was elected to the White House. But he did say it, as recorded in a transcript released by the White House. "It's absolutely essential that eight weeks from today, on Nov. 2, that we make the right choice, because if we make the wrong choice then the danger is that we'll get hit again," Cheney said. "That we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we'll fall back into the pre-9/11 mind-set, if you will, that in fact these terrorist attac ks are just criminal acts and that we're not really at war."
One of the central failings of the Bush administration -- when the facts aren't on its side -- has been its frequent refusal to honestly debate national security issues on their merits. Instead, the administration too often questions the patriotism of those who dare criticize it on these issues. Then, when someone refuses to let them get away with a smear, White House officials will distort the issue and try to mislead the public, aided by their supporters on Fox News Channel and right-wing talk radio. This isn't leadership, it's scorched-earth politics of the worst kind that is dangerous to the country when practiced by the president of the United States.
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